Fire, Rescue Vehicles May Go Slower

Fire Chiefs In The County Favor Having Fewer Vehicles Respond With Sirens Blaring.

April 20, 1995|By Mary Brooks of The Sentinel Staff

Each time fire and rescue vehicles rush to an emergency with full lights and sirens going, the risk of an accident is three times greater than for units driving normally to the scene.

That's why fire chiefs around Seminole County are leaning toward a policy to limit the number of emergency vehicles running ''Code 3'' - bypassing traffic using lights and sirens.

Such a policy should reduce the risk of accidents while leaving agencies able to get to fires and medical emergencies, according to a report by the Executive Group of Seminole County Fire Departments.

''The responsibility goes far beyond taking off in a cloud of dust and a 'hie de ho' to get to an emergency,'' said Gary Kaiser, Seminole County's public safety director. ''It's also all the people and other things that you encounter on the way to get there.''

The number of accidents involving fire and rescue vehicles in Seminole County in the last few years was not readily available. ''We just know we've had a number of serious accidents at intersections involving fire apparatus,'' Kaiser said.

Oviedo Fire Chief Wayne Martin recalled an accident several years ago in which several people were injured when a firetruck, a car and a crane collided downtown. ''It was a Code 3 response, so the more of those units we can eliminate the better off we - and everyone else - will be,'' Martin said.

Nationwide, 2,078 firefighters died on duty between 1977 and 1993. Of those, 547 deaths - or 26 percent - occurred while vehicles were in transit to or from an emergency.

Information was not available on how many of those deaths occurred on vehicles traveling Code 3. ''However, emergency vehicle personnel have a three times greater chance of being in an accident and a 10 times greater chance of being killed or injured than other emergency vehicles which respond non-Code 3,'' the chiefs' report stated.

Under the new policy, on most calls requiring multiple units, the first vehicle will respond using lights and sirens. Subsequent units, however, would travel with the normal flow of traffic.

Once on the scene, the first unit can assess the situation and determine whether the other vehicles need to upgrade to Code 3, proceed non-emergency or return to the station.

''We're not decreasing the amount of time or ability for the first unit to arrive at the scene by any means,'' Kaiser said. ''The issue is how many times we respond in ready mode with multiple units when the reality is one unit can handle it.''

Additionally, any vehicle running with lights and sirens should not exceed the speed limit by more than 10 mph. They also should first stop to make sure the way is clear at all red lights, stop signs and uncontrolled railroad crossings.